Successful Tomato Varieties for New Zealand

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by StephenCoote

To change the subject.... has anybody in your part of the world tried to trademark the word 'Heirloom' in relation to tomatoes? Seems like somebody down here has.... Jackie bought these at the supermarket a couple of days ago:

I took all the Intellectual Property classes at law school because they were taught by one of the few professors who would give me a good grade. I don't think US law would be that different from yours. The general rule is that generic terms may not be trademarked. Trying to claim ownership of the word 'heirloom' is ridiculous; it's like trying to trademark the word 'tomato.' They can claim the mark all they want, but enforcing it in court, which means getting a court order to stop anyone else from using the word heirloom to describe tomatoes, is not going to happen.